Document management extension software

ABSTRACT

A document management extension system for use as an extension to document collection and management software, includes an information store having a database and a messaging system for storing documents managed by the document collection and management software, with stored documents being stored in at least one of the database or the messaging system of the information store. The document management extension system also includes document indexing of the database or messaging system for the documents stored therein, along with processing of the documents stored in either the database or messaging system of the information store.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO PRIOR APPLICATION

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/646,946 now U.S. Pat.No. 7,035,839, filed Oct. 16, 2000, which represents the U.S. NationalPhase application of P.C.T. Application No. PCT/AU99/00201, filed Mar.24, 1999.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a computer software program for an improveddocument management system.

The basic function of document management software is to manage adocument's lifetime from creation to destruction and at least givesomeone an even chance of locating the document by being able to searchon more than an eight-dot-three pseudonym for the document.

Conversely, enterprise document management software was designed tosolve the problems of large organizations with thousands of networkedcomputers. This type of software was designed to securely and dependablymanage every electronic document produced within the enterprise andreliably retrieve those documents wherever, and whenever, required.

Enterprise document management software typically has the followingcomponents: A database, a browser interface, a search interface, and amethod of intercepting file save and open calls.

The database is used to store information about a document other thanits file name. Information such as the author, the typist, the date ofcreation and notes are typical fields, however, most importantly, arethe database controls where the file is stored and the access to thatlocation. The database record contains a pointer to the file systemsaying “find this file.” It also generally contains information as towhich application should be launched to edit the document, such asMICROSOFT WORD or MICROSOFT EXCEL (trademarks of the MicrosoftCorporation.)

The database is, in effect, a Connection Manager.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Many enterprise document management systems provide an interface wherebyusers can browse, in some logical fashion, through the documentsavailable to them.

All enterprise document management systems provide some form of searchability with respect to the fields recorded in the database. Theresponsiveness of the search is entirely dependent on the databasechosen for the back-end.

Some of these systems also offer full text searching of the contents ofthe electronic documents themselves.

Many of the enterprise document management systems are able to enforceproper profiling and storage documents by intercepting calls made by thedocument production software to the file system. There are two ways inwhich this can be achieved. One is to use macros to alter behavior ofthe production application, or interfere, with the low level operatingsystem code used by the network to properly manage the file system. Themacro method usually involves the launch of a part of the documentmanagement system in response to a “file save” or “open” command. Mostsystems, therefore, require that their software be continuously runningin the background in order to respond to these calls, this, however, canhave dramatic effects on the operator's system performance. As there isonly so much RAM to share between applications, the more that can bemade available for production applications, the better.

The problem with many of the enterprise document management systems,which are essentially targeted at the large corporate market, is that,apart from being expensive software, they do not cater to small- tomedium-sized organizations.

Since the first enterprise development systems became available, NetworkOperating Systems (NOS) have been quietly maturing in the background.Modem NOS's, such as MICROSOFT NT4 SERVER (trademark of MicrosoftCorporation for a network operating system) have been built in object(document) level security, replication and file system databases, suchas MICROSOFT EXCHANGE (trademark of Microsoft Corporation), eliminatingthe need to rebuild these things as expensive add-ins.

NOS's have matured to the point where much of what a document managementsystem does is already built into the NOS or tightly integratedcomponents, such as, MICROSOFT EXCHANGE and MICROSOFT OFFICE (bothtrademarks of Microsoft Corporation.)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide adocument management extension system for use as an extension to adocument collection and management software program, wherein thedocument management extension system saves the content (or object) andmetadata (or index data) in the information store (i.e., database ormessaging system, or message store) within, for example, MICROSOFTEXCHANGE, rather than saving the content or metadata in a file system.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a documentmanagement system which is able to be utilized by organizations of allsizes, as well as individuals.

The invention, in its broadest sense, is a document management extensionsystem for MICROSOFT EXCHANGE (trademark of Microsoft Corporation),wherein the system merges the functionality of index databases, filerepositories and messaging systems, using MICROSOFT EXCHANGE(trademark), and leverages the tight integration of MICROSOFT EXCHANGE(trademark) and an NT Server for security and redundancy management.

In this specification, any reference to a particular software version isan indication that the system of the invention operates with at leastthat particular version. As software is upgraded, so will the system,which, when necessary, will be upgraded to operate with later version ofthe same software.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the containment hierarchy implemented bydocument management extension (“DME”) software, with each indentedobject being a child of the object under which it is indented and withan object being the parent of every object at the next level ofindentation thereunder; and,

FIG. 2 is a continuation of the flow chart of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING AND PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Document Management Extensions (DME) for MICROSOFT EXCHANGE™ is adocument management system for everyone. DME merges the traditionalfunctionality of index databases, file repositories and messagingsystems by using MICROSOFT EXCHANGE 5.0 (trademark of MicrosoftCorporation) and leverages the tight integration of MICROSOFT EXCHANGE5.0 and an NT SERVER 4.0 (trademark of Microsoft Corporation) forsecurity and redundancy management.

DME is tightly integrated with host applications. There is no standaloneapplication, rather numerous interfaces to the Document ManagementExtensions. The only user interface to DME is via dialogs in one'sapplications or via the Find application.

This specification, in detail, describes each of these interfaces andprovides technical descriptions of the interfaces.

Document Production Application Integration

File Open and File Save/Save As

Applications supported by DME in Release 1.0 were MICROSOFT WORD97(trademark), POWERPOINT 97, BINDER 97, EXCEL 97 and OUTLOOK 97(trademarks) EASTMAN (trademark of WANG) Image Viewer and MICROSOFTWINDOWS PAINTBRUSH (trademark of Microsoft Corporation) are alsosupported. At some future time, non-MICROSOFT OFFICE (“MICROSOFT OFFICE”is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation) applications may be directlysupported. Three MICROSOFT OFFICE 97 (trademark) applications supportthe Open Document Management API. DME leverage this support. Non-ODMAcompliant applications, such as MICROSOFT OUTLOOK 97 (trademark) andMICROSOFT EXCEL 97 (trademark) use macro interfaces to arrive at thesame result. From the user's point of view all applications behave inexactly the same fashion.

Microsoft Word 97, Binder 97 and PowerPoint 97 (Trademarks)

The Open Document Management API (ODMA) is the acknowledged standard APIfor access to Document Management Systems. MICROSOFT WORD 97, BINDER 97and POWERPOINT 97 (trademarks) are ODMA compliant applications.MICROSOFT WORD 97, BINDER 97 and POWERPOINT 97 register themselves withDME using an ODMRegisterApp call to the ODMA Connection Manager(ODMA32.DLL). ODMA returns a handle for the application to use foridentification in all subsequent calls. When the application exits, itcalls ODMUnRegisterApp to return the handle. As part of thisregistration process, ODMA searches the Registry for entries inHKEY_Local_Machine/Software/Classes/ODMA32. It tries to connect to thefirst Document Management System (DMS) key with a sub-key named DEFAULT.The value of the DMS key is the path to the DME DLL that provides thefunctionality specified by ODMA. All screens for selecting and settingproperties of documents come from Document Management Extensions forMICROSOFT EXCHANGE (trademark.) The DME search application (discussedseparately below) interacts independently with the DME DLL rather thanvia an application.

Microsoft Excel 97 and Microsoft Outlook 97 (Trademarks)

Neither MICROSOFT EXCEL 97 nor MICROSOFT OUTLOOK 97 are ODMA compliantapplications. For these applications macrocode replaces the ODMA32.DLLcalls in the ODMA model. The macros are not editable by the user. To theuser, there is no difference in application behavior as between an ODMAand a non-ODMA application.

Internet Browser Integration

The interaction between MICROSOFT EXCHANGE SERVER and Internet/Intranetusers is provided by Microsoft Corporation's Internet Information Server(IIS) 3.0 Active Server Pages in conjunction with MICROSOFT EXCHANGESERVER 5.0 Active Server Components. MICROSOFT OUTLOOK or MICROSOFTEXCHANGE user sessions establish direct MAPI connections with MICROSOFTEXCHANGE SERVER, whereas DME and browsers use Active Messaging objectsto access the MICROSOFT EXCHANGE public folders.

DME Document Management Features

DME Object Model

FIGS. 1 and 2, in combination, present a flow chart of the object modelfor Document Management Extensions software, which is hierarchical. Theflow chart shows the containment hierarchy implemented in DME. Eachindented object is a child of the object is a child of the object underwhich it is indented. An object is the parent of every object at thenext level of indentation under it. For example, the Documentscollection and the Configuration object are both child objects of aSession object and a Fields collection is a parent object of a Fieldobject.

The term “collection” is used to represent an object which allows accessto one or more child objects. For example, the Field object presents onepiece of information about a document, and a “document” contains one ormore such pieces of information. In fact, it would be advantageous tohave a simple way of managing access to the group of document fields.This is the purpose of the Fields collection. A document has a singleFields collection object, which, in turn, provides access to any of thedocument's Field objects.

Versioning

Many users need to keep track of who did what to a document and when.With versioning, users can go back in time and see who made what changesto a document on various dates.

Versioning in all supported applications is accomplished by addinghistorical copies of documents to the MAPI record for the document.

Versions of a document can be seen within the document properties andcan be accessed directly from Document Find.

Check In/Out to Local Machine

Before examining Check In and Check Out it is worth looking at how DMEtransacts with the MICROSOFT EXCHANGE Server in a normal File Open. TheCheckout procedure is merely an extension of that functionality. Bothprocedures are designed to ensure maximum redundancy in operation.

How Does it Work?

When a user opens a document using Document Management Extensions forMICROSOFT EXCHANGE, the following process occurs:

-   1. The DME Service sets a flag in the DME object Store by setting    the status property to OPEN and by inserting the time and user's    name in the StatusInfo property.-   2. The DME Service copies the object from the public DME store to    the user's mailbox.-   3. The document is copied from there to a local TEMP directory for    editing by the DME user.    When a document is closed or saved the following process occurs:-   1. The document is moved from the local TEMP file to the TEMP folder    in the OST File (if the server is offline) or the TEMP folder in the    user's mailbox (if the server is online).-   2. All documents are moved from the user's mailbox to the DME store.-   3. For each document, the Status property is reset to AVAILABLE and    the StatusInfo property is set to null.

In fact online/offline detection automatically switches users betweenintegration with the document manager and working offline. If thenetwork or server should fail while a document is open, the user cancontinue to work without even being aware of the outage. As soon as thenetwork is available the user's Offline file will automaticallyresynchronize with the User's Mailbox on the server. Users are able toCheck documents out to their local machine using a right click commandin any dialog (see context menus below). DME allows you to save thesedocuments to the file system so that you can access them when notconnected to the server or send them to a user without access to thedocument manager.

Those documents are still visible within the rest of DME however the‘check out’ option is no longer available on the right click menu. Ifother users attempt to open the document, they receive a messageinforming them who has the document checked out and when it was checkedout (similar to the message received when a document is in use.)

If the user selects ‘check out’ from the right click menus availablefrom with DME dialogs, the following process occurs:

-   1. DME sets a flag in the object Store by setting the Status    property to CHECKED_OUT and by inserting the time and user's name in    StatusInfo property.-   2. DME copies the object from the public DME store to the user's    location on the physical file system.

When a user wishes to check a document in, they must be connected to thenetwork. The Checked out copy of the document is moved to the DME objectstore and the flag is reset in the DME object store. If the object doesnot exist in the DME store (i.e., it was created offline), then it isadded to the store.

Microsoft Windows 95 (NT Workstation) Desktop Integration (ShellExtensions)

DME modifies the following parts of the MICROSOFT WINDOWS (trademark ofMicrosoft Corporation for an operating system) (Windows NT) shell:

-   1. DME folders are added to the MICROSOFT WINDOWS EXPLORER and    MICROSOFT OUTLOOK 97.-   2. The Start Menu is modified.-   3. An application is added to the system tray.-   4. An item is added to the context (right click) menu for some    document types.    Microsoft Windows 95 Explorer (Namespace Extensions)

A DME name space extension is added to the shell. This appears as achild of ‘My Computer’ in MICROSOFT EXPLORER (trademark of MicrosoftCorporation for an Internet browser.) DME contains a folder named ‘MyDocuments’ which contains the results of a stored query of DME thatreturns all (within a preset limit) documents for which the user is thecreator.

The user may create other sub-folders of the DME object by savingsearches of the document set. When the user saves searches in DocumentManagement Extensions for MICROSOFT EXCHANGE, those searches appear assub-folders of the DME object.

Microsoft Outlook 97 (Name Space Extensions)

Browsing Documents

DME is logically an extension of the file system (rather than themessaging system) and should therefore appear as such in MICROSOFTOUTLOOK 97. The folder ‘Document Manager’ is a shortcut to the namespace extension found in WINDOWS EXPLORER, which gives access to one'ssaved searches and works in a similar manner as the ‘My Documents’shortcut which points to the system folder ‘My Documents’ on the localdrive of the host. The DME document store will not appear as part of theMICROSOFT EXCHANGE (trademark) Folder Tree either as a public folder oras a private folder.

System Tray

A quick find icon has been added to the Start Bar Status Area (sometimescalled the system tray) located on the lower right of screen when theStart Bar is in default horizontal orientation. The icon permits a quickretrieval from DME on the basis of document number or provides fasteraccess to the DME Find Documents application.

Start Menu

The Start Menu has been modified in several ways:

-   1. A command called ‘In the Document Manager’ has been added to the    Find menu using a shell extension.-   2. The ‘Open from Document Manager’ command has been added to the    start bar which launches a DME open dialog rather than the standard    OSA.exe dialog.-   3. The list of recent edits will be accessible under the ‘Documents’    menu. This will be done using a doclink shell extension.    Document Find

The “In the Document Manager . . . ” option on the start menu under Findlaunches an application for searching the DME store that is almostidentical in appearance to the normal MICROSOFT WINDOWS 95/NT4 Findprogram.

The application permits searching on all DME properties and permitsviewing of object properties and setting of permissions. Context menusalso deliver check out functionality from the search dialog. From thisdialog, the user is able to save searches and retrieve those searchesusing a folder tree drop. Full text searching is also available fromthis dialog (see full text searching below). “Send to” and “Send link”functionality in the Find Application enables the user to send documentsand searches to others in both an organization and outside theorganization.

Context Menu

Context menu handlers (a form of shell extension) have been used to addmenu items to the context menu for all potential DME file objects whenthey are displayed outside a DME component. The context menu isdisplayed when a user clicks a file object with the alternate (usuallythe right) mouse button. If the object is capable of import to DME anitem is added to the ‘Send to’ menu, being ‘send to Document Manager’.

Within DME dialogs a context menu that presents the following optionsappears:

-   Open: which is the default (double click) option and which launches    the appropriate application and opens the file.-   Check Out: which is disabled if the document is already checked out.-   Check In: which is disabled if the document is already checked in.-   Properties: which displays the properties screen and which permits    the viewing and editing of document properties or attributes. Date    created field and date modified fields are also part of this dialog.    Further to this, a history of document change events can be captured    for each document or for all documents in a store. Users can see a    full history of transactions on their documents directly from any    property dialog. They can also turn the history on or off without    affecting the server side audit trail.-   Status: the status field permits the implementation of simple    workflow and contains choices such as draft and    published—Administration configurable.    Back End Functionality    Microsoft Exchange Object Store

DME uses the Fulcrum Knowledge Network Server to index and search themessage store. The administrator can configure the Index to cover one ormore Server folders within the Object store. A user is able to seewhichever indices he/she has permission to search. A user (other thanthe administrator) cannot see the structure of the store and is notaware of that structure. Each server has a unique identifier whichcoupled with a document number (e.g. Server1-2345) provides a uniqueidentifier for the Exchange organization.

Document Management Extensions for MICROSOFT EXCHANGE's Object Store andstructured index is contained in full within MICROSOFT EXCHANGE 5.0public information store. The public information store within MICROSOFTEXCHANGE is, in fact, a database used as a message store and messagingsystem.

Security

To function as a document management system, DME must preventuncontrolled and unauthorized access to its object store. The onlymethod of access to the DME store is programmatically (i.e., viaDocument Management Extensions for MICROSOFT EXCHANGE). DME implementsaccess security using the MICROSOFT EXCHANGE address book. The type ofsecurity applicable to a document is similar to that of an exchangefolder. Since no user except the administrator can access the storewithout using DME, the MICROSOFT EXCHANGE Server automaticallyimplements all external (to Document Management Extensions for MICROSOFTEXCHANGE) security.

Read/Write Permission and Search Permission

Read/Write access allows the user to change the document and propertiesbut restricts them from changing permissions or deleting them. Thepermission setting is useful in team collaboration environments wherethe team leader is able to set the permissions on the document andeveryone else can work on it but may not change the permissions ordelete them.

Search access allows a user to discover the item through searching andview the properties but not open the site. This permission settingallows others in the organization to know of the existence of adocument, however, it does not enable a person to read the documentwithout first contacting the author. An example of this is where anorganization would wish to have people know that it had done research onIntranets without having them necessarily having the right to read theresearch.

Time-Based Archive Delete

All items can be flagged for archive or delete after a specified periodof time based on the document type allocated to that item. Organizationscan therefore enforce a time-based delete or archive policy by setting atime limit based on the document type, which can be overridden ifnecessary.

Users, on the other hand, may set any document level security attributeexcept delete using a DME interface to the MICROSOFT EXCHANGE securitysettings.

Replication

Replication is supported only on a whole of document set basis inMICROSOFT EXCHANGE Release 5.0. In Release 5.5 in the future,administrators will be permitted to specify a document type as capableof individual replication. This means that documents of the typereplicable will be copied to a public folder that is included in theMICROSOFT EXCHANGE replication system.

Full Text Searching

Full text searching is available on all DME documents. The user accessesthe functionality either from a DME ‘Open’ dialog within a supportedapplication (‘Find in Text’ field) or via the ‘Find Document’ item onthe MICROSOFT WINDOWS 95 (NT Workstation) operating system ‘Start’ menuand other up-dates of the MICROSOFT WINDOWS operating system. The usermay also use MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER (trademark for Internet browserby Microsoft Corporation) for a based full text (or attribute) search.

DME use the FULCRUM (trademark) Knowledge Network and FULCRUM ExchangeConnector to provide this functionality.

Administrator Options

There are very few administrator options supported by DME in keepingwith the policy of “its already there don't rebuild it.” User access isadministered via the MICROSOFT EXCHANGE address books. Secure access todocuments is administered at the user level. The only administratoroverride being that the administrator has open access on all documents.

In addition to all MICROSOFT EXCHANGE administration options, theMICROSOFT EXCHANGE administrator is able to:

-   1. Create and delete Document Types.-   2. Set archive properties (and eventually replication properties) in    relation to those Document Types.-   3. Search across the whole document management extension    organization—(Global Administrator Search) regardless of document    permission, but is unable to open or view documents without explicit    permission.    User Interface    Document Production Application Integration    File Open and File Save/Save As

All applications supported by DME use identical File Open and FileSave/Save As dialogs.

DME File Open Screen

DME intercept all file interactions in supported applications andreplace the standard dialogs with DME dialogs. The DME dialogs arealmost identical in appearance and behavior to their MICROSOFT OFFICE 97(trademark of Microsoft Corporation) and updates counterparts. Aninteresting feature of the Save dialog is that in remaining consistentwith the Microsoft “look and feel,” a form of Auto-Profiling has beenimplemented. When a user single left clicks on an existing document, DMEfill in all profile fields for that document. All a user need do isidentify a document which is like the one being saved, click on it andchange the name (or any other attribute) to complete the profiling ofthat document. They need not change anything, but then a new documentwill be created with exactly the same attributes (which could lead toconfusion when the user wishes to retrieve the document). In a documentmanagement system, the only unique attribute is the document number.

Internet Browser Integration

DME supports a Browser interface that permits remote searching andbrowsing of documents using the MICROSOFT OFFICE (MICROSOFT WORD,MICROSOFT EXCEL and MICROSOFT POWERPOINT 97) viewers. Though editing wasnot available in Release 5.0 it has become available in subsequentdocument management extension programs.

Versioning

DME versioning is identical in look and feel to the existing MICROSOFTWORD 97 and updates versioning. Similar versioning dialogs have beenadded to MICROSOFT OFFICE Applications that do not directly implementversioning. The DME versioning dialogs implement versioning within DME.This form of versioning is one set of properties to many versions of thedocument.

Linking

This feature allows users to link documents to each other. Users canspecify one or two way logical links between related documents andlinked information can be viewed from any search result in the DME FindClient.

Microsoft Windows 95 (NT Workstation) Desktop Integration

DME modifies the following parts of the MICROSOFT WINDOWS 95 (WindowsNT) operating system desktop:

-   1. DME folders are added to the MICROSOFT EXPLORER 95 and MICROSOFT    OUTLOOK 97.-   2. The Start Menu is modified.-   3. An application is added to the system tray.-   4. An item is added to the context (right click) menu for some    document types.    Microsoft Windows 95 Explorer

“Document Manager” appears as a child of ‘My Computer’ in MICROSOFTEXPLORER Internet browser. “Document Manager” contains a folder named‘My Documents’ which contains the results of a stored query of DME thatreturns all (within a preset limit) documents for which the user is thecreator.

The user may create other sub-folders of the “Document Manager” folderby saving searches of the document set. When the user saves searches inDocument Management Extensions for MICROSOFT EXCHANGE, those searchesappear as sub-folders of the “Document Manager” folder.

Microsoft Outlook 97

Browsing Documents

DME is logically an extension of the file system (rather than themessaging system) and should therefore appear as such in MICROSOFTOUTLOOK 97. The folder ‘Document Manager’ is a shortcut to the namespaceextension found in MICROSOFT WINDOWS EXPLORER which gives you access toyour saved searches and works in a similar manner as the ‘My Documents’shortcut which points to the system folder ‘My Documents’ on the localdrive of the host. The DME document store will not appear as part of theMICROSOFT EXCHANGE Folder Tree either as a public folder or as a privatefolder.

Journal

Documents accessed via DME will update the MICROSOFT OUTLOOK 97 journal.This effectively provides a history functionality of the documentmanagement system at a user view level.

System Tray

A quick find icon has been added to the Start Bar Status Area (sometimescalled the system tray) located on the lower right of screen when theStart Bar is in default horizontal orientation. The icon permits a quickretrieval from DME on the basis of document number or provides fasteraccess to the DME Find Documents application.

Start Menu

The Start Menu has been modified in several ways:

-   1. Command called ‘In the Document Manager’ has been added to the    Find menu using a shell extension.-   2. The ‘Open from Document Manager’ command has been added to the    start bar which launches a DME open dialog rather than the standard    OSA.exe dialog.-   3. The list of recent edits will be accessible under the ‘Documents’    menu. This will be done using a doclink shell extension.    Document Find

The “In the Document Manager” found under the Find option on the startmenu launches an application for searching the DME store that is almostidentical in appearance to the normal MICROSOFT WINDOWS 95/NT4 Findprogram.

The application permits searching on all DME properties and permitsviewing of object properties and setting of permissions. Context menusalso deliver check out functionality from the search dialog. From thisdialog, the user is able to save searches and retrieve those searchesusing a folder tree drop down. Full text searching is also availablefrom this dialog.

Context Menu

Menu items have been added to the context menu for all potential DMEfiles when they are displayed outside a DME dialog. The context menu isdisplayed when a user clicks a file object with the alternate (usuallythe right) mouse button. If the object is capable of import to DME, anitem is added to the ‘Send to’ menu, being ‘send to Document Manager’.

Within DME dialogs a context menu that presents the following optionsappears:

-   Open: which is the default (double click) option and which launches    the appropriate application and opens the file.-   Check Out: which is disabled if the document is already checked out.-   Check In: which is disabled if the document is already checked in.-   Properties: which displays the properties screen and which permits    the viewing and editing of document properties or attributes. Date    created field and date modified fields are also part of this dialog.    Further to this, a history of document change events can be captured    for each document or for all documents in a store. Users can see a    full history of transactions on their documents directly from any    property dialog. They can also turn the history on or off without    affecting the server side audit trail.-   Status: The status field permits the implementation of simple    workflow and contains choices such as draft and    published—Administration configurable.    Records Management

The Document Management Extension System has many record managementfeatures which include the following:

Custom Records Management HTML Forms

A DME Administrator (or user) can create HTML forms using a simple HTMLeditor (such as MICROSOFT FRONT PAGE EXPRESS, a trademark of theMicrosoft Corporation) for use as a data entry form for RecordsManagement purposes.

Organizational forms can be simply and efficiently designed andimplemented as Standard Data Capture forms for Records management or anyother data capture process.

Record Viewer Application

The DME Record Viewer allows a user to retrieve/complete/view/save HTMLRecords Management Forms.

The ODMA compliant HTML forms viewer allows standard HTML forms to betreated just like any other managed object. Users can load a form, enterthe required data and save the form (complete with data) as a new DMEdocument.

Records Management is just one of the possible uses for the new Formstechnology.

Permanent Records

Users can flag a DME object (including the HTML Records ManagementForms) as permanent. The effect of this is to freeze an object in a‘published’ state.

When an object is flagged as permanent, it cannot be unflagged, modifiedor deleted. To records management, this is a preservation feature and toothers this is a publication feature as the object is effectively frozenat that point of time.

Records Manager User Class

DME Administrators can specify a group of users who have modify rightsin respect of all permanent objects.

Organizations can designate certain users as being part of the RecordManager Group. Those users have modify permission in relation topermanent objects. This permits the designation of specialist RecordsManagers.

It is envisaged that other embodiments of the invention will exhibit anynumber of, and any combination of, the features of the previouslydescribed two embodiments.

While we have described herein one specific embodiment of the invention,it is to be understood that variations and modifications can be made tothe invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof

1. A document management extension system for use as an extension to adocument collection and management software program, said documentmanagement extension system comprising: an information store comprisinga database and a messaging system for storing documents managed by adocument collection and management software program, with means forstoring documents in at least one of said database and said messagingsystem, and with stored documents being stored in said database or saidmessaging system of said information store; means for document indexingof said database or said messaging system of said stored documentsstored solely in said information store; and, means for processing saidstored documents in either said database or said messaging system. 2.The document management extension system according to claim 1, furthercomprising a user interface accessible through a dialog in a softwareapplication program.
 3. The document management extension systemaccording to claim 1, further comprising a user interface accessiblethrough a dialog in a software ‘find’ application program.
 4. Thedocument management extension system according to claim 1, furthercomprising document and messaging software.
 5. The document managementextension system according to claim 1, further comprising softwareproviding for when a network or server fail, while a document is open, auser is able to continue working, even if the user is unaware that thenetwork or server has failed.
 6. The document management extensionsystem according to claim 5, wherein said software providing for when anetwork or server fail includes provision so that when the network orserver are again available, an off-line fie of the user automaticallyre-synchronizes the server.
 7. The document management extension systemaccording to claim 6, further comprising software for enabling the userto check documents out to a local machine of the user, the user using a“check-out” command available in any dialog.
 8. The document managementextension system according to claim 7, wherein said software forenabling the user to check documents out includes provision forinforming a subsequent user who attempts to open a document that thedocument has been “checked-out” and the time when the document was“checked-out.”
 9. The document management extension system according toclaim 1, further comprising means for launching an application forsearching a document store.
 10. The document management extension systemaccording to claim 9, wherein said means for launching an applicationfor searching a document store is carried out by a command in a “StartMenu.”
 11. The document management extension system according to claim9, wherein said means for launching an application for searching adocument management extension store includes means for allowingsearching on all document management extension properties and means forallowing viewing of object properties and setting of permissions. 12.The document management extension system according to claim 11, furthercomprising document management extension dialogs having a context menu,said context menu having an open function for launching a softwareapplication or for opening a file.
 13. The document management system ofclaim 12 further comprising at least one subsystem configured to importan object to said document management system.
 14. The documentmanagement system of claim 12 further comprising at least one subsystemconfigured to display a history of change events for at least onedocument in the information store.
 15. The document management extensionsystem according to claim 11, further comprising document managementextension dialogs having a context menu, said context menu having a“check-out” function capable of being disabled which, if said“check-out” function is disabled, signifies that a document has alreadybeen “checked-out”.
 16. The document management extension systemaccording to claim 11, further comprising document management extensiondialogs having a context menu, said context menu having a propertiesfunction capable of displaying a properties screen and for permittingviewing and editing of a document's properties.
 17. The documentmanagement extension system according to claim 11, further comprisingdocument management extension dialog having a context menu, said contextmenu having a status function for allowing an implementation of workflowand including options of draft or published.
 18. The document managementextension system according to claim 1, further comprising means forpreventing an uncontrolled and unauthorized access to an object store ofsaid document management extension system.
 19. The document managementextension system according to claim 18, wherein said means forpreventing an uncontrolled and unauthorized access to an object storeallows a user to set any document level security attribute, except“delete” using a document management exchange interface to exchangesecurity settings.
 20. The document management extension systemaccording to claim 18, wherein said means for preventing an uncontrolledand unauthorized access to an object store allows a user to alter adocument and properties, while restricting the user from alteringpermissions or deleting permissions.
 21. The document managementextension system according to claim 18, wherein said means forpreventing an uncontrolled and unauthorized access to an object storeallows a user to conduct a search for a document and view the document,but does not allow the user to open the document.
 22. The documentmanagement extension system according to claim 18, wherein said meansfor preventing an uncontrolled and unauthorized access to an objectstore allows for a time-based archiving and deletion, so that after aspecified time, a document is able to be archived or deleted.
 23. Thedocument management extension system according to claim 22, wherein saidtime-based archiving and deletion is capable of being overridden. 24.The document management extension system according to claim 18, whereinsaid means for preventing an uncontrolled and unauthorized access to anobject store allows for replication on a whole of document set basis.25. The document management extension system according to claim 18,wherein said means for preventing an uncontrolled and unauthorizedaccess to an object store allows for replication on an individualdocument basis.
 26. The document management extension system accordingto claim 1, further comprising means for linking documents to oneanother via specifying one-way logical Links between related documents.27. The document management extension system according to claim 1,further comprising means for linking documents to one another viaspecifying two-way logical links between related documents.
 28. Thedocument management extension system according to claim 1, furthercomprising a document exchange extension record viewer for allowingretrieval by a user of HTML records management forms.
 29. The documentmanagement extension system according to claim 1, further comprising adocument exchange extension record viewer for allowing completion by auser of HTML records management forms.
 30. The document managementextension system according to claim 1, further comprising a documentexchange extension record viewer for allowing viewing by a user of HTMLrecords management forms.
 31. The document management extension systemaccording to claim 1, further comprising a document exchange extensionrecord viewer for allowing saving by a user of HTML records managementforms.
 32. The document management system of claim 31 further comprisingat least one subsystem configured to provide at least one userpermission to modify at least one permanent object.
 33. The documentmanagement system of claim 31 further comprising at least one subsystemconfigured to determine when said system is online and offline.
 34. Thedocument management extension system according to claim 1, furthercomprising means for flagging by a user a document management extensionobject as permanent.
 35. The document management system of claim 1wherein versions of said each of said documents can be viewed as adocument property.
 36. The document management system of claim 1 furthercomprising at least one subsystem configured to allow a user to senddocuments or search results to other users.
 37. A document managementsystem comprising: an information store associated with a messagingsystem; at least one subsystem configured to store documents in saidinformation store, wherein each of said documents is associated with afields collection object that allows access to at least one fieldobject, said at least one field object representing an attributeassociated with each of said documents; at least one subsystemconfigured to index said stored documents stored in said informationstore; and at least one subsystem configured to process said storeddocuments in either said database or said messaging system.
 38. A methodfor providing a document management system in a computing system, themethod comprising: storing documents in an information store associatedwith a messaging system, indexing said documents and storing index dataassociated with said documents in said information store; managing saiddocuments using document management functions of said messaging systemand an operating system of the computing system; and providing a userinterface for said managing said documents.
 39. The method according toclaim 38, wherein said user interface is provided through a dialog in atleast one software application program operating in conjunction withsaid operating system.
 40. The method according to claim 38, furthercomprising detecting when said system is online and offline andsynchronizing an offline version of a document with an online version.41. The method according to claim 38, further comprising enabling a userto check out documents to a local computer system.
 42. The methodaccording to claim 38, further comprising enabling a user to set atleast one document level security attribute.
 43. The method according toclaim 38, further comprising enabling a user to conduct a search for adocument and view the document but not allow the user to edit thedocument.
 44. The method according to claim 38, further comprisinglinking documents to one another via logical links between relateddocuments.
 45. The method according to claim 38, further comprisingproviding a forms viewer and editor.
 46. A computer readable mediumstoring thereon computer readable instructions for providing a documentmanagement system in a computing system, said computer readableinstructions, when executed by said computing system, causing saidcomputing system to: store documents in an information store associatedwith a messaging system, index said documents and store index dataassociated with said documents in said information store; manage saiddocuments using document management functions of said messaging systemand an operating system of the computing system; and provide a userinterface for said managing said documents.
 47. The computer readablemedium of claim 46, wherein said user interface is provided via a dialogin a software application program.
 48. The computer readable medium ofclaim 46, wherein said user interface is provided via a context menu.49. The computer readable medium of claim 48, further comprisinginstructions that, when executed, cause the computing system to displaya properties screen and permit viewing and editing of a document'sproperties.
 50. The computer readable medium of claim 46, furthercomprising instructions that, when executed, cause the computing systemto determine when said system is online and offline and synchronize anoffline version of a document with an online version.
 51. The computerreadable medium of claim 46, further comprising instructions that, whenexecuted, cause the computing system to enable the user to check outdocuments to a local computing system.
 52. The computer readable mediumof claim 46, further comprising instructions that, when executed, causethe computing system to search said information store.
 53. The computerreadable medium of claim 46, further comprising instructions that, whenexecuted, cause the computing system to set at least one document levelsecurity attribute.
 54. The computer readable medium of claim 46,further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the computingsystem to conduct a search for a document and allow a user to view thedocument but not allow the user to edit the document.
 55. The computerreadable medium of claim 46, further comprising instructions that, whenexecuted, cause the computing system to link documents to one anothervia logical links between related documents.
 56. The computer readablemedium of claim 46, further comprising instructions that, when executed,cause the computing system to provide a forms viewer and editor.